SUNGAI PETANI, Oct 13 — The Home Ministry will contact Japanese authorities to obtain accurate information on the arrest of Malaysians suspected of involvement in a drug case in Japan.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said he had instructed Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan to act immediately to establish the facts.
“Complete information on the incident will be conveyed to the media as soon as it is received,” he told reporters after the Madani Townhall session between Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Kedah students and the Home Minister here today.
He was commenting on the arrest of five Malaysians, including a woman, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo last Saturday on suspicion of attempting to smuggle about five kilogrammes (kg) of cocaine worth ¥120 million (RM3.1 million).
According to Fuji News Network (FNN), the operation was uncovered after customs officers became suspicious of a suspect wearing shoes with unusually thick soles.
FNN reported that the suspects were believed to have concealed the drugs beneath their shoe insoles when boarding a flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), before customs inspections upon arrival in Japan exposed the alleged smuggling attempt.
Saifuddin Nasution said the Home Ministry’s move was also in line with the approach taken in the case involving the arrest of a Malaysian co-pilot in Jakarta several months ago, as well as the seizure of 521 kg of drugs from a private jet in Laos, which was initially alleged to have originated from Malaysia.
Meanwhile, he said the implementation of 17 recommendations or initiatives undertaken through a joint committee comprising the Home Ministry and the Transport Ministry (MOT) to strengthen security at KLIA and the country’s entry points would continue as planned.
He said the initiatives would be implemented in three phases, with the first focusing on destinations identified as high-risk areas or hotspots.
“For destinations listed as hotspots, comprehensive screening of passengers, including body and baggage checks, will be carried out on 100 per cent of passengers,” he said.
However, he said destinations in Japan, including Tokyo, were not included in the original list of hotspots. — Bernama